Fragility and inaccuracy of Charge 2

[Wiliemo]

Like many customers of fitbit I have faced the disappointment of first my Charge 2 screen cracking for no apparent reason, and even worse the screen completely falling off and breaking into 3 pieces when I was taking my running top off over my wrist. This has rendered the product useless as the screen can not be fitted back on and made to work. For a product costing over £100 at time of purchase this should just not happen - especially when it was a replacement itself for a previous fitbit that was caught in a splash of water and immediately stopped working. As my purchase was over 2 years ago I was offered what appears to be a standard 25% discount on the fitbit.com website for a replacement product which I have not taken up as (1) the market price is lower than the fitbit site and there would only have been a few percent of a discount in reality, and (2) I had for some time been disappointed in the inaccuracy of measurement of some of the key features that are supposed to differentiate and justify fitbit's higher prices. Namely, the heart monitor was invariably wrong whenever I tested against my own pulse manually, and also the sleep recorder, usually had to be edited to make sense. As a result I am going to try one of the competing products which are a lower price but with same functionality. I will be disappointed to discontinue having a fitbit as the app itself is good - it's a shame the products dont seem to be sufficiently reliable for the price charged

[AlvaroFitbit]

@Wiliemo Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry for the delay in my reply and to hear about your damaged Charge 2 screen. Support does follow the guidelines listed in the warranty so if your device is outside the warranty period they won't be able to replace it. This is why they offer a discount to help customers in this situation. Still thank you for sharing your feedback.

Regarding the heart rate reading accuracy I suggest you clean the back of your device with cotton and rubbing alcohol and restart it. Turn the heart rate off, save and sync then turn it on save and sync again. Also check these tips to improve the heart rate reading on your device.  

Finally about the sleep detection, your device will start recording sleep after it detects an hour of inactivity. If you have a light sleep or move too much then this may difficult your sleep detection. Additionally you can try wearing your device on your non dominant hand to decrease the amount of movement it is subjected to. Finally you can restart your device. You can also manually log your sleep time. You can read more about sleep detection here.

Regardless of the device you choose I hope you keep up the good habits you have and reach your fitness goals.

I'll be around.

[Wiliemo]

Hi

Thanks for your response. That’s appreciated.

I still think the fitbits should be designed better for vigorous usage given (1) they are fitness trackers and (2) their relative price.

Just to say the 25% discount is immaterial in reality as main retailers are often offering c20% discounts on the Fitbit website in any case for many products, and the only Fitbit I would be tempted to buy now, the Charge 4, is not included in the 25% discounted list. This is very disappointing

Regards

Willie Morrison

Sent from my iPhone

[Wiliemo]

and just to follow up on the heart rate measurement point

I have cleaned the fitbit with an acohol based wipe turned heart rate off and synced then back on and synced and then read and taken account of all the advice on the wite re how to get the best reading

None of it has made a difference - despite sitting still at my desk in COVID working isolation my heart rate measurement has varied between 38 and 104 in the last hour! I have a strong but usually slow heartbeat of around 38-42 when at rest (down to around 34-36 when in deep sleep) and the only time I can get the fitbit to recognise this is usually when I hold my own pulse for around a minute or more, then it usually comes down from the 55 or 60 beat it is showing to the correct reading. When I stop holding my own pulse it invariably meanders back up to around 60 though I know my pulse is still 40

It makes the heart rate info and all the graphs associated with it (which are very well designed and intended) effectively misleading, and is very frustrating for me. Perhaps designing in more functionality to accuracy identify lower heart rates needs to be considered - unless I have a faulty device